1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a modular unit with two components, a method for joining said components and an assembly device for said purpose.
2. Description of Prior Art
A prior art modular unit as shown, for example, in EP 0 405 889 A2has two wall panels of a railway freight car body which have joint surfaces which correspond to one another in pairs. For connection of the joint surfaces which fit together on the two components, there is a separate connecting element which is inserted between the components and has connection brackets which are adapted to the surfaces to be connected. The joint surfaces which correspond to one another thereby each lie in a common flat or curved plane, and are located at some distance from one another, which distance is then bridged by the connecting piece. The use of a separate connecting piece entails a corresponding effort and expense, whereby, on the connecting piece two independent joint connections are required for each pair of joint surfaces to be connected. The connecting piece is therefore defined so that it has a cross section in the shape of an H and is engaged with the free ends of its legs between parallel wall segments of the wall panels. The distance between the legs, which are to be inserted into a panel, must therefore be exactly adapted to the distance between the outside walls of the panel, which entails additional effort and expense. In addition, when gaps do occur between the joint surfaces, external clamping means must be used to bring the outer walls of the panel closer to the joint brackets on the connecting piece.
The object of the invention is to create a modular unit which has integrated joining accessories and can be assembled in a simple manner, and in which an assembly device which has a simple construction can be used to make the connection.